Book 15
Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This one had a good premise but not so great execution. There are logic leaps and things that are down right wrong and if I didn't need this for a couple book challenges I wouldn't have read past the first few chapters because of the wrong things.
The premise is a bit of a stretch but in urban fantasy you make those. Jill Jekel has just lost her father at the open on the novel and one of the few people there for her is someone she doesn't really know, the drop dead gorgeous and dangerous, Tristan Hyde. Fast forward a few months and they're both in h.s. chemistry class when Mr. Messerschimdt tries to get them, and Darcy, to enter a chemistry contest worth 30 thousand in college scholarship money. Jill wants it because her father, it turns out was involved in theft and pretty much wrecked the family monetarily and her mom's sanity is hanging by a thread.
Jill and Tristan both share a secret, They believe that the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde is actually slightly fictionalized true history and that Jill is descended from Dr. Jekyll and Hyde is naturally descended from the rape victims of Mr. Hyde. And Hyde's violent personality is hiding in Tristan who knows he blacks out and does serious damage and is dreaming of murdering a girl.
They plan to use the original notes (which Jill has) and a first copy of the story (which Tristan owns from his grandfather) to recreate Jekyll's work. What they don't know is the 'altered salts' that tames Hyde. It's not in the notes or the story other than 'altered salts.' Tristan ups the ante. If they can't subdue his beast he will commit suicide so he doesn't start murdering young women.
Okay while I'm not sure how they think this is worth 30K in research (not to mention they flip flop back and forth on whether or not they are doing the contest and how thru the whole book) it's at least an interesting premise. If you buy into the idea that violence is inherited that is (which they do and later it's revealed that so did their fathers).
Also woven into this is the fact that Tristan composes beautiful dark music and Jill is struggling to paint but something is missing. Also her friend Becca has a past with Tristan that Jill is all jealous over.
From here on out the review becomes spoilery. You've been warned.
So if Tristan has the Hyde side, then so does his well renowned psychiatrist father who is now treating Jill's mom who had a breakdown. Dr. Hyde doesn't want Tristan to toss off the Hyde personality and when he and the super good girl Jill manage it, he is going to be sure Tristan drinks the original formula again and returns to his evil ways.
I'm not even sure why they make the original formula, actually I think they have just one formula here, dose one makes you Hyde, dose two of the same formula returns you which makes sense in the context of this story (though I believe it's two different ones in the original story but I could be wrong. It's been forever since I've read it). And apparently just one drop of it on your lips as you kiss your girlfriend is enough to make her go Hyde. That was not clear until much later when Jill goes from virginal good girl to queen of acting out and she keeps DRINKING the formula. Eye rolls. (though maybe it was clear and I missed it because some of this was just not keeping my attention).
It goes to its violent end and Tristan and Jill ride off into the sunset (okay NYC) but you knew they would based on the title alone. It seems like they're both retaining some of Hyde in them because the formula stops working but hey that's okay because it means they are in NYC making art and music. That's the moral of the story. Good kids are lame and if you want success embrace the Dark Side (not original but not exactly great either).
But what really almost stopped me from reading was the beginning. To showcase Tristan's increasingly out of control side, he fights back when Todd, Darcy's boyfriend, thinks Tristan is hitting on her and attacks him. He shatters Todd's arm. So what does he get for breaking the star quarterback's arm? A visit from the police? No. Expelled? No. A disappointed talk from Dad? Yep. Come on, even when I was in high school decades ago, if you broke someone's arm in a fight on school grounds you were expelled. There is no way Tristan does what he did to Todd without repercussions and there are none other than the I'm disappointed in you talk from Dad and a bump in his bad boy rep.
Later Tristan has been badly beaten by his father. His face is laid open and his wrist is broken. He refuses treatment (so I guess he's lucky he can still play music with this wound because it is NEVER treated other than by Jill), refuses to call the cops and refuses help at school. And here is where I have a problem. TWO teachers see all these injuries and no one calls in the cops. One doesn't for plot points I saw coming a mile away. One doesn't for who knows why. It's mandatory for teachers to report child abuse. A 30 second web search proves that so how this got past editors is really unforgivable.
Also there's no investigation of Dr Hyde's death because the fire burned up his body. Um, really? that does not usually happen in a fire and there would STILL be an investigation.
Overall, there were some good points but it was far too unbelievable and got too many things wrong
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